Cutting through Morocco’s Sahara over nine days of off-roading, the 1,500-mile Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc is different from just about every other car rally in the world. There's no GPS allowed. Participants are limited to paper maps, a ruler, and compasses. The winner of this rally isn’t the fastest person; instead, it’s the one who finishes in the shortest distance possible, driving anywhere from 70 to 250 miles a day. There's no monetary prize, though the first team over the line does get a medal. But one of the biggest differences of them all? Every single member of the more than 150 participating teams is a woman.

Launched by Dominique Serra, the competition is intended to create a worldwide community of women who have rallied together in Morocco, known as the "gazelles." Next year will be the 28th iteration of the rally, which started with less than ten cars. Today, teams travel with 4x4s or motorbikes from more than 30 countries to compete, with participants ranging from 18 to 71 in age. Last March, Condé Nast Traveler editor and car enthusiast Mara Balagtas joined the rally, alongside 65-year-old veteran rally pilot and retired French pharmacist Annique, to experience the grueling-but-inspiring adventure for herself.

“Before I went there, I knew this was not an easy race. From my knowledge of off-road rallies, I knew there is an immense level of skill that comes with piloting a vehicle in conditions like this, over rocks and mile-high sand dunes,” Balagtas says. “I thought a lot of these women had professionally trained for this, but when I got there, I was shocked—and pleasantly surprised—[to find] that a lot of these women just wanted to try something new.”

Rally teams take a break at the base camp with fuel and water that appears in the middle of the desert every two night.

Photo by Mara Balagtas

Participants run the gamut. Air France flight attendants, teachers, dentists, professional rally driving royalty and more joined the rally, which takes drivers and navigators racing over the Sahara’s mountainous sand dunes, in the hopes of not getting stuck in the sand at the top. If you do, you’ve got to dig yourself out by any means necessary (every team is equipped with a shovel) and keep on driving. At night, if you haven't made it to the checkpoint, you pitch a tent and sleep in the desert. Every two days, you'll meet up with a roving base camp for a night in a little more luxury—and a much-needed shower.

"A lot of the women there aren’t even gearheads, but there’s just this overarching theme of adventure," Balagtas says. “That’s why I think it’s so attractive to so many female travelers. You don’t have to be invested in cars or off-roading to be a part of it.”

Since half of the competitors are usually first-timers, the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles provides additional services that you wouldn’t find in a regular off-road rally. With a $17,000 nearly all-inclusive entrance fee comes 40 mechanics at your service in case of emergency; medical assistance; water services to stave off dehydration at each checkpoint; the aforementioned roaming base camp; fuel during the competition at bases; and even photographers to capture the adventure of a lifetime. Though event organizers are tracking your car using GPS to tally the shortest distance traveled, it's up to you to decide what route to take to the frequent flag markers.

Compounded with sandstorms that change the landscape dramatically in a matter of minutes, the desert throws plenty of roadblocks in the drivers' way—which means stopping to change course at least a dozen times a day is a must. “We’re so attached to our phones these days, I can’t get anywhere without Google Maps. Even when I’m walking. And to not have that and be in a place that’s so desolate and everything looks kind of the same, you have to really focus on where you are, what you’re doing, and nothing else,” Balagtas says.

“When you think of the Sahara, you just think of dunes. But there are so many rock formations of different sizes, shapes, and colors. There are areas that are perfectly flat, like salt flats and lake beds. There’s just so much to see, even when you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere.”